Differential contribution of the CysLTR1 gene in patients with aspirin hypersensitivity.

In this study, we compared the roles of CysLT receptor type 1 (CysLTR1) and leukotriene C4 synthase (LTC4S) gene polymorphisms in two major aspirin-related allergic diseases, aspirin-intolerant asthma (AIA) and aspirin-induced chronic urticaria/angioedema (AICU). CysLTR1-634C>T and LTC4S-444A>C polymorphisms were genotyped and its functional effect on the promoter activity was compared. As in vivo functional study, changes of peripheral mRNA level of CysLTR1 were measured by real-time PCR before and after aspirin challenge. A significant association was found for the CysLTR1 promoter polymorphism and the AIA phenotype compared to AICU (P = 0.015). In U937 cells, the variant genotype reporter construct showed significantly higher promoter activity than the common genotype (P < 0.05). The CysLTR1 mRNA levels increased significantly after aspirin challenge in AIA patients (P = 0.013). In conclusion, the CysLTR1 polymorphism may contribute to develop to the AIA phenotype and be used as a genetic marker for differentiating two major aspirin hypersensitivity phenotypes.